{"id":93075,"date":"2026-01-07T16:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T22:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=93075"},"modified":"2026-01-07T16:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T22:35:07","slug":"demons-believe-and-tremble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/demons-believe-and-tremble\/","title":{"rendered":"Demons Believe and Tremble"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n<p>Text: Mark 5<\/p>\n<p>Ok, Ok&#8230; so I start with a quote from the book of James, but it is apropos as we read about the incident involving Jesus and the demon-possessed man of Gerasenes. Here they are called &#8216;unclean spirits&#8217; but Matthew calls them demons (Matthew 8:31). Some questions arise in that it is at times a single spirit (an unclean spirit in Matthew 8:2), and later it is plural: &#8220;<em>My name is Legion, for <b>we <\/b>are many<\/em>&#8221; in Matthew 8:9. I take the text to imply (or at least I infer) the one demon acts as the spokesman for the many that are aligned with him.<\/p>\n<p>What do we learn about demons? I find that I yet have more questions than answers, but there are several important points to note, and they tell us who Jesus <strong>is<\/strong>. Remember, in the beginning was the <strong>Word<\/strong>, and the <strong>Word<\/strong> was <b>with <\/b>God, and the <b>Word was God<\/b>. Hence, whatever we make of demons and their history and identity, they had a knowledge of Jesus that was outside of our experiences. Several things to note:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They implored Jesus, not once but three times.<\/li>\n<li>They bowed down before Him.<\/li>\n<li>They knew He had the power to torment them.<\/li>\n<li>They acknowledged that He was the Son of God.<\/li>\n<li>They obeyed Him.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Pay particular attention to these last two items. Jesus <b>is <\/b>the <strong>Son <\/strong>of <strong>God<\/strong>. So Mark will write that God the Father said so (Mark 1:11; 9:7), the unclean spirits said so (see also Mark 3:11), and then the Roman Centurion, upon seeing the events at the time of Jesus&#8217; death in Mark 15:39. This was the point of contention that caused the Jewish leaders to have Him crucified (Mark 14:61f). Then there was Mark&#8217;s initial statement at the beginning (cp. Mark 1:1). Later, Paul writes that he is writing &#8220;&#8230; <em>concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh and was appointed to be the powerful Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead<\/em>&#8221; (Romans 1:3-4). Upon such testimony, I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So?<\/strong> Then what? The demons, upon acknowledging who He is and His power and authority over them,\u00a0receive permission from Him (note: Luke states Jesus commanded them, Luke 8:29), and then\u00a0<strong>obey Him<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>An often-sung hymn is &#8216;Trust and Obey&#8217;. This story of the unclean spirits confirms our faith that Jesus <b>is <\/b>the Son of God, and believing such impels us to obey. We <strong>trust and obey<\/strong>. He is our Lord and Savior.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Hugh DeLong Text: Mark 5 Ok, Ok&#8230; so I start with a quote from the book of James, but it is apropos as we read about the incident involving Jesus and the demon-possessed man of Gerasenes. Here they are called &#8216;unclean spirits&#8217; but Matthew calls them demons (Matthew 8:31). Some questions arise in that&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[139,685,49,73],"class_list":["post-93075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-belief","tag-demons","tag-faith","tag-jesus"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8243,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-some-demons-rebuked-and-others-cast-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":93075,"position":0},"title":"Why are some demons rebuked and others cast out?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I wanted to know if you could tell me why in some incidents in the Bible demons are rebuked and other times they are cast out? Answer: In every verse that I could find involving a person possessed of a demon, the demon was cast out (or it might\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3892,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/demoniacs\/","url_meta":{"origin":93075,"position":1},"title":"Demoniacs","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bobby K. Thompson via The Jackson Drive News and Notes, No. 2, Jan. 9, 2005. A demoniac is defined: \"a person supposedly possessed by a demon.\" The word is frequently used in the New Testament, and applied to persons suffering under the possession of a demon or evil spirit.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9295,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-demon-possession-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":93075,"position":2},"title":"What About Demon Possession Today?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dillard Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 30, No. 26, June 26, 1981. Question: Do you believe that the devil and his followers continue to walk about the earth today? If so, in what type of forms do they take? Answer: Yes, I believe that the truth stated by Peter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24647,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-didnt-jesus-let-the-unclean-spirits-say-who-he-was\/","url_meta":{"origin":93075,"position":3},"title":"Why didn&#8217;t Jesus let the unclean spirits say who he was?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: There are some parts in the Bible, where it says \"Jesus cast out demons, but did not let them talk, because they knew who He was.\" Why would He do that? I mean, if people heard demons saying that Jesus is Lord, they'd believe, and it'd be good, wouldn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22348,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/stacking-the-deck-against-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":93075,"position":4},"title":"Stacking the Deck Against Jesus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford If there is anything we should take away from reading through the gospels this year, it is a deeper understanding of the skill with which the Evangelists crafted their narratives. Nothing in any of the gospels is there just because Jesus did it. As John observes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0001_tif-2-300x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55788,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/demonology\/","url_meta":{"origin":93075,"position":5},"title":"Demonology","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerry C. Ray Truth Magazine VI: 6, pp. 19-21, March 1962 Truth Magazine VI: 7, pp. 9-11, April 1962 Truth Magazine VI: 8, pp. 6-7, May 1962 Truth Magazine VI: 9 & 10, pp. 9-10, June & July 1962 Due to the limited information in the Bible on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/11\/demon-198x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93075\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}